


Subzero fever

by petrichor3145



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Cold temperatures, Confessions, Fluff, Light Angst, M/M, Misunderstandings, POV Yamaguchi Tadashi, slight jealousy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-14
Updated: 2020-04-14
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:08:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23641369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/petrichor3145/pseuds/petrichor3145
Summary: It was almost Christmas, and yet Yamaguchi Tadashi felt like a human furnace.Unfortunately, Tsukishima wasn't about to fix that any time soon.
Relationships: Minor or Background Relationship(s), Tsukishima Kei/Yamaguchi Tadashi
Comments: 5
Kudos: 114





	Subzero fever

“Um, Tsukki…”

“What’s wrong, Yamaguchi?” Tsukishima asked, eyeing Tadashi curiously.

Tadashi normally had no trouble expressing his feelings very openly around Tsukki, but right now he had something to prove. ‘Nervous’ was not the feeling he wanted to convey, even if his ears were still ringing with the shouting he had done not ten minutes ago and his face still probably felt hot to the touch (nevermind how absolutely _frigid_ it was outside).

“You seem nervous.”

And just like that, Tadashi felt his composure slide out the window. “Th- that’s not true!” he stuttered, internally cursing. He had been found out.

“Did Hinata ask you something weird again?”

Warning bells lit up the inside of Tadashi’s head for a split-second before he realized that Tsukki must have been referring to the time Hinata had asked Tadashi whether he wore pajamas or just his underwear to bed at night. Tsukishima was a lot of things—intelligent, observant, and sensible being just some of them—but he wasn’t psychic, and he had no way of knowing what had just transpired.

“No, Tsukki. Actually…”

Come on, just spit it out already! Had he not just yelled in someone’s face that he would do this?

“Actually, um, well…”

Tadashi knew he was stalling for time. He knew he probably looked _really_ nervous, because Tsukishima had stopped walking to stare at him now, and he _never_ did that ever, but. Well.

“Hinata and I found out that Kageyama has a crush on you!”

Tadashi said it all like one big blur of words and syllables, but Tsukishima must have heard it because his eyes widened by a millimeter and his posture stiffened just a bit.

There was a second of silence, during which Tadashi saw his life flashing before his eyes. There was no telling _how_ Tsukishima would take the news, or whether he would even believe this coming out of Tadashi’s mouth, but… he had to prove to himself that Hinata was wrong. That was his first priority right now, and his feelings didn’t _matter_ , whether Tsukki returned Kageyama’s feelings didn’t _matter_.

The only thing that _did_ matter was making sure his classmates never doubted that Tsukki was a good person ever again.

\---

_Twenty minutes earlier:_

“Yamaguchi-san!”

Yamaguchi stiffened and turned, meeting Hinata’s intense gaze less-than-ready.

“Y-yes, Hinata-kun?”

Hinata took a deep breath. He looked the way he always did on the volleyball court, like nothing could shatter his focus if the world depended on it. His hands were clenched tight against his sides.

“I think Kageyama might be in love with Tsukishima,” Hinata said seriously.

Tadashi felt like he could barely breathe. He looked behind him cautiously and, upon seeing no eavesdroppers nearby, tossed away the volleyball he’d been holding and closed the door to the clubroom, locking it behind him as an afterthought. He slowly turned back to the boy in front of him and asked himself why he was taking this so seriously. Hinata was surely just mistaken. Surely.

“Hinata, I’m sure that’s just—”

“It’s not a joke!” Hinata shouted suddenly, ducking his head so his eyes were hidden behind his hair and taking a second to collect himself. He looked back up at Tadashi with big, earnest eyes.

“I caught him, yesterday,” Hinata continued slowly, “in the locker rooms. Everyone was almost done changing, but Tsukishima was being a slowpoke as usual. And everything seemed normal.”

Tadashi caught Hinata’s emphasis on the word ‘seemed’ and shook his head in disbelief. “I don’t get it, what does that—”

“I’m not finished!” Hinata snapped, and Tadashi had to hold back a gasp. This wasn’t the same Hinata he had spoken to a day before. This Hinata was a brewing storm waiting to wreak havoc.

The boy hurried on in a rush, a flash of remorse tinging his features. “Sorry, Yamaguchi. It’s just—” Hinata paused, took a breath, and continued talking. “Kageyama and I were on our way out to get some meat buns, but Kageyama told me to just go ahead and that he’d catch up soon. So, naturally, I agreed and spied on him behind the trashcans. Not like I’d normally do something like that, but he was acting really weird and I thought—well—I had nothing better to do, right?”

“Then what happened?” Tadashi breathed, gently urging Hinata to continue (even if he wasn’t quite sure where this was going).

“Well, I saw Kageyama head back towards his locker, which, as you know, is right across from Tsukishima’s. And Tsukishima was still changing like a total weirdo, like, he hadn’t even noticed that everybody was gone yet. Right?”

Tadashi nodded. That sounded very like Tsukki.

“And then I noticed Kageyama’s water bottle sitting on the bench,” Hinata continued, “so I thought he was going back to grab it. But instead, and I could barely believe it, he started staring at Tsukishima—while his shirt was off!—and then I couldn’t really see, because he sort of took a step forward and Tsukishima took a step back, and then I heard Kageyama say something awful, Yamaguchi, just really awful.”

“What was it?” Tadashi asked.

“He—he said, ‘I can’t get over you,’ all dark and angry-sounding. He sounded so serious about it, Yamaguchi!” Hinata looked upset, but Tadashi had no idea how to comfort him except to urge him on.

“And then what?”

“Tsukishima was all like, ‘Excuse me?’ and Kageyama said something like ‘I need this,’ and then I heard them shuffling around a little bit, but I wasn’t sure what was going on.”

Tadashi stared. “Do you think they were—”

“No!” Hinata shouted. “No, they wouldn’t…”

“How can you be so sure?” Tadashi countered, something painful twisting in his gut as he observed the uncertainty in Hinata’s features.

“Because,” Hinata said, “because like two seconds later, I saw Tsukishima walk past Kageyama with that constipated look on his face he always has, and he was all like ‘Have fun with your boyfriend,’ and then he left! And I saw Kageyama shove some stuff in his bag before I had to leave so he wouldn’t catch me watching them. But yeah,” Hinata shuffled his feet. “When Tsukishima said ‘boyfriend,’ I guess he meant me, but I’m sure that Kageyama…”

Tadashi stared at him, stunned.

“You’re saying Kageyama… like-likes Tsukki?” he asked softly, feeling his brain sprinting in a billion different directions at once, all screaming at him that this must be a mistake, just a mistake, just a mistake…

Hinata nodded. “I know Kageyama,” he said, voice worryingly picking up confidence as he spoke. “He would never make light of something this important.”

Tadashi somehow managed to break through all the white noise flaring up in his own head to get a proper look at Hinata’s face—and he looked as though he were about to cry.

“It—it doesn’t seem like Tsukki understood Kageyama properly,” Tadashi admitted slowly, reasonably. Calmly. “Did you confront Kageyama about his, um, feelings?”

Hinata blinked and stared up at Tadashi. “And admit I was spying on him? No way! Besides—” Hinata sighed and fiddled with the leather on one of the volleyballs surrounding them. “I don’t think Kageyama would talk about it with me anyway, since, y’know, we are talking about _Tsukishima_ , after all.”

Tadashi felt himself go pale. “And all this time Kageyama’s been…”

“Acting like he hates Tsukishima,” Hinata admitted dully. “It must have been hard.”

Tadashi felt something in his throat constrict; pity for Hinata, maybe, or annoyance at Tsukki. “What does that even mean, ‘I can’t get over you?’” Tadashi heard himself say, his tone coming out surprisingly bitter. “I’m sure Tsukki didn’t know about this. He would have told me.”

“Would he even care if he did know?” Hinata shot back, running a hand roughly through his hair. “It doesn’t matter. I’m sure Tsukishima doesn’t return the sentiment anyway. Still…”

Hinata’s eyes hardened. “Yamaguchi, the reason I told you all this is because you know Tsukishima best. You’re the only person I know who can get him to listen to the rest of us. Maybe… maybe if you were the one to tell him about Kageyama’s feelings, he’d take them seriously. Seriously enough to give him a proper rejection, at least. Will you?”

Hinata was almost begging. Tadashi wanted to do what he said, but… “But what if Tsukki really does like Kageyama back? You said you couldn’t see them for a couple seconds, so… so what if they were doing, you know,” Tadashi broke off for a second, embarrassed.

“And maybe Tsukki was just mean to Kageyama because he was angry? About him and you? Because that seems like something Tsukki would do, if he really—” Tadashi had to swallow past a lump in his throat—“liked someone.”

“Don’t make things up, Yamaguchi,” Hinata growled. “This is Tsukishima we’re talking about here. I’m not sure he would know love if it hit him over the head!”

“You’re wrong!” Tadashi cried. Hinata didn’t normally arouse feelings of anger in him, but this time he had crossed a line. “Tsukki can be really nice, and loving, and sweet… not that you would know about that, or Kageyama for that matter! You guys never even try to be nice to him!”

Hinata scoffed. “Like he’s ever nice to us? The only person I’ve ever seen him be even a little nice to is you, Yamaguchi. For the record, I have no idea why Kageyama even started liking him!”

“That’s enough!” Yamaguchi roared, surprising even himself. His voice was so loud that it echoed through the room and the light seemed to flicker. Tadashi was fed up with all of this, with Hinata pretending like he even gave Tsukki a chance before judging him just because he was tall and seemed scary from the outside. And sure, he could be biting sometimes, but deep down Tadashi knew he cared about volleyball and about him and even about stupid Hinata and Kageyama, even though they didn’t deserve it. There must have been a good reason for the way Tsukishima treated Kageyama, and Tadashi fully intended to find out what it was so that he could shove it in Hinata’s smug, cynical face.

“I’ll tell him,” Tadashi decided abruptly. “Then you’ll see how nice Tsukki can be.”

Hinata exhaled loudly through his nose. “Fine,” he said, taking a volleyball from the ground and tossing it carelessly onto the rack. “Then I can find out from Kageyama later how badly that Stingyshima hurt his feelings.”

Tadashi ground his teeth at the nickname and pleaded with himself to remain calm. “I’m sure you’ll be surprised,” he only ended up muttering and left the room.

He left the door swinging open behind him.

\---

Tadashi shook himself from the memories, back into the present where Tsukki had stopped moving, but Tadashi was too far behind him to see his face. What was he thinking? What kind of face was he making?

“... Tsukki?” Tadashi called hesitantly.

Tsukishima wheeled around suddenly, and Tadashi took note of his scrunched brow, downturned mouth, narrowed eyes. “Yamaguchi… what the hell are you talking about?”

Tadashi’s face started to heat up again. Probably for the millionth time that day, but this time from embarrassment. He struggled to explain himself. “Nothing, really, well I mean, not nothing, but. Uh. I was just talking to Hinata before I came out here to meet you, and I’m really thankful that you waited for me, I’m really sorry about that—”

“Yamaguchi,” Tsukishima said, and Tadashi remembered to breathe. He gave Tsukki a grateful smile.

“Thanks, Tsukki. So, we were talking, and Hinata told me about what happened between you and Kageyama yesterday in the locker rooms—”Tadashi cut himself off to gauge Tsukki’s reaction anxiously. All he saw was confusion.

“And? What happened?”

He had Tsukki’s full attention now; his headphones were off, tucked neatly beneath his ears. Tadashi tried hard not to notice how the tips of those ears were tinged pink from the cold, or how the rest of Tsukki’s skin looked almost snow-white against the chalky sky, or how his glasses were starting to fog up at the edges, making his eyes glow almost golden. Noticing those things would only make this harder, and Tsukki wouldn’t appreciate the effort, anyway.

Tadashi laughed nervously. “You want me to describe it _for_ you?”

Tsukishima coughed into his hand, which made Tadashi wonder if he was getting a cold and needed medicine or if he was just trying to distract him before Tsukki said, “No. I don’t need you to. Yesterday after practice, we went to the locker rooms to change. You finished before me and left to wait near the front of the school. I stayed behind. Kageyama came back inside a few minutes later to get his bag, which he obviously forgot. He does that at least once a week. Then I made fun of him a little, grabbed my things, and left.”

Tsukki sighed. “Yamaguchi,” he said, drawing his name out like he sometimes did. Tadashi usually loved it when Tsukishima did that, but now it just made him nervous. “What’s this about?”

Tadashi felt tongue-tied. There was no doubt in the way Tsukki told the story that he wasn’t lying, wasn’t omitting a crucial detail or twisting the truth. But, at the same time… “Hinata overheard you. He said… he said that Kageyama confessed to you. ‘I can’t get over you.’ Right?”

There was a second of silence, during which Tadashi watched the steam that had been rolling out of his mouth in rivulets evaporate into the cold, dark sky. The clouds covered up the moon so Tadashi couldn’t see it clearly, and it was still too early in the evening for the stars to be out, so he couldn’t quite see Tsukki’s face.

Tadashi heard a soft chuckle. It kept going, and he started looking around to find the source of the noise before he realized it was coming from _Tsukki_.

“Tsukki?” he asked gently, wondering if the boy had gone out of his mind.

Tsukishima was still laughing, even harder now. Tadashi heard him mutter “what the hell” before he turned fully, letting the warm light of the streetlamp bathe his face in a soft glow. “You—you really—and Hinata—” Tsukishima cut himself off, almost _giggling_ now. Tadashi would be over the moon were _he_ not the one who was now confused.

“Hey, Tsukki, what did Kageyama mean when he said that? ‘I can’t get over you?’”

Tsukishima finally stopped laughing enough to say, “He meant ‘get out of the way, I need to get to my jersey.’ He meant, ‘I can’t get _over_ you.’ Yamaguchi, I though you knew better than to listen to what that little shrimp told you; what did he do, _eavesdrop_ on us talking about how Kageyama had trouble reaching over me to grab his underwear?”

Tadashi’s face started turning red for what might as well have been the sixteenth time today. He felt a little light-headed, in all honesty. “You mean—but you said—and then he said—”

Tsukishima’s eyes were lit up in cruel delight. “He said ‘I need you,’ didn’t he? Didn’t he?”

Tadashi could only nod shamefully as Tsukki grew more and more animated, realizing the full truth before Tadashi’s brain could quite catch up with the reality of the situation. Hinata had been wrong, so wrong, and now Tadashi was being punished for _Hinata’s_ mistake.

“And _you_ thought—you _and_ Hinata thought—he was—oh my god, this is too good.” Tsukki was cackling like a maniac now, and the people passing by them in the street were starting to stare.

“Tsukki, this isn’t funny!” Tadashi whined, “Hinata thought that he heard you guys—well—when you went to reach over him…”

Tsukishima looked at Tadashi, blank-faced for only a second, before he burst out laughing even harder. “You—” he gasped, “you thought we _kissed_? You thought that me and _Kageyama_ —you absolute _morons_ —”

Tadashi was torn between being offended on his and Hinata’s behalf and laughing a little himself at the sheer absurdity of the situation. It was really kind of unbelievable that _Kageyama_ could have romantic feelings for _anyone_ , let alone Tadashi’s best friend, but still—

“Tsukki, you’re forgetting something,” Tadashi said, looking up from staring at the ground to pull gently on Tsukki’s sleeve.

“What is it?” Tsukishima chuckled, wiping tears of amusement from his eyes and staring a couple inches down to meet Tadashi’s eyes once he put his glasses back on.

“I was really scared, you know!” Tadashi confessed quietly, finally pulling what had been bothering him this whole time to the forefront of his mind. “I thought that maybe—maybe you were just fooling around with Kageyama’s feelings. Like you were leading him on or something, or even worse…”

Tadashi gulped, and said his next words like he was divulging a terrible secret. “I was afraid that maybe you liked him, too.”

There was a pause.

He chanced a look at Tsukki, who looked the way he did when they were studying and he was trying to solve a difficult math problem in his head. Tadashi thought that that was a little excessive, because he had basically just spelled out his feelings and written them on his own forehead in permanent marker, but Tsukki had always been an overthinker. That had never bothered Tadashi before.

Now, though, it made him feel like his heart was about to give out from overexertion.

“Yamaguchi, can I ask you a question—”

“Yes!” Tadashi interrupted, perhaps too enthusiastically, but he seriously thought he might have a heart attack on the spot and it was _really_ unfair of Tsukki to make him wait like this, but—

“Would it be okay if I kissed you?”

Tadashi paused, took a breath. Repeated the words twice in his head.

Once Tadashi felt like a living being again, his mind erupted in celebration. Cannons exploded behind him, confetti fell from the sky, cherubs with flower headdresses danced and sang, but mostly Tadashi stared at the nervous silhouette of his best friend, his long-time hero and the secret object of his interests, and couldn’t believe his ears. Was this _really_ Tsukishima Kei, or was it an alien sent to fool Tadashi into _believing_ this was his favorite person _ever_ confessing to him with such a sweet, tender look on his face, asking him to _kiss_ him—

“Um, is that a no?”

Tadashi realized with a start that he had just been caught staring for upwards of probably about ten seconds. “No!” he cried, then internally slapped himself. “I mean, yes! Of course!”

Tsukki looked like he wanted to make a snarky comment but was holding back. His face was tinged red now, too (thank god Tadashi wasn’t the only one), and as he leaned in just a little too eagerly, holding back, Tadashi realized that this was about to be his very first kiss _ever_.

And the fact that it was with _Tsukishima Kei_ made Tadashi’s heart swell so much he was convinced it was about to explode.

Tadashi lifted his head up and leaned forward, following Tsukki’s lead and closing his eyes as their noses brushed softly against each other’s, then their lips. The first feeling Tadashi registered after _utter bliss_ was the warmth of being pressed flush against his best friend in the searing cold of the outdoors, and he relished it as he almost subconsciously brought their bodies closer together.

His second conscious thought was, perhaps embarrassingly, ‘ _more_ ,’ as Tsukishima stroked the sensitive hairs at the back of Tadashi’s neck gently, sighed out his name against his lips, pressed down a little more firmly. Tsukki’s lips were chapped but tender, surprisingly soft and compliant where Tadashi had assumed they would be stubborn and immovable, not that this was the first time he had been wrong when it came to Tsukki.

Tadashi almost didn’t register the way he’d been reaching out until his hand stroked Tsukki’s cheek, savoring how it was at first cold but quickly burned hot under his touch. He slid his hand forward until it dug into the hair tucked behind Tsukki’s ear, the hair he had admired a thousand times over for how pale, fragile it seemed compared to Tsukki’s larger-than-life personality, for its gentle curl. Tadashi marveled silently that it could be so _soft_ even during the most biting phase of winter.

Eventually, they pulled back, breathing heavily, breaths mingling and rising in the frigid air.

Tsukki stared. Tadashi stared back. For once, Tadashi was completely speechless. He couldn’t make his mouth form the syllables to express how completely _amazing_ that had felt.

After a long while, Tsukki cleared his throat.

“Tadashi.” Tadashi startled at the use of his given name, sounding just a little rough, almost _aroused_ , at the edges.

“Yes?” he squeaked.

Tsukki was so red, Tadashi thought if he touched his cheeks now his fingers would burn. “You’re aware that Christmas Eve is coming up soon.”

Tadashi had forgotten. “Of course, Tsukki!”

Tsukki nodded tersely. “Do you think you could, um, possibly spend it at my house?”

As much as the invitation warmed Tadashi in the best possible way, he was confused. “... but we spend every Christmas Eve together?”

Tsukki winced. “I know. I just thought that, maybe, I should give you a more formal invitation this time.”

Oh. _Oh_. Tsukki meant… like a _date_. Oh, wow.

“Ah… Yes! I mean, of course, Tsukki!” Tadashi said, waving his arms around ineffectually, trying to cover his embarrassment. “We could… do that. If you want.”

“I do,” Tsukki said seriously, looking Tadashi straight in the eye. Tadashi wished his heart would stop beating like he was running a marathon.

He looked away, and they continued walking. It was starting to snow lightly, and Tadashi wondered if the way Tsukki’s hair always looked when it was dusted with snow would be even more stunning now, now that they had _kissed_.

It was then that Tadashi realized that Tsukki had stopped walking a few seconds ago and was calling out to him.

“Yes, Tsukki?” Tadashi said, scrambling for a second before whipping around to face Tsukki.

“I said, this is where you live, Tadashi. You missed it.” There was a gentle undercurrent of affection in Tsukki’s voice and a slight upturn to his mouth, and it made Tadashi feel so, so warm. Had his voice always sounded like that? Tadashi thought that he might just have never noticed it.

“Sorry, Tsukki,” he said happily, more out of habit than actual apology, and sprung towards the steps of his house.

Tsukki’s hair still shined like a halo under those accursed streetlights, and Tadashi couldn’t help but notice how _happy_ he looked as he waved goodbye. Tadashi grinned, waved back, forced himself to turn away, and entered his house.

Once he had had dinner (which, his mom had groused, he was very _late_ for) and brushed his teeth, once he had finished his homework, Tadashi laid in bed and squeezed his pillow in his arms.

It was only then that a thought struck him, one of sheer panic.

How was he going to explain this to Hinata?

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, thanks for reading this all the way to the end! This is my first Haikyuu! fic, so the characterization might have been off. If I've made a mistake, or there's something I could be doing better, don't hesitate to leave a comment to let me know; suggestions are always welcome here :)


End file.
